Josh's Slideshow

Calvin's slideshow

Fire!

Don't get too excited . . . this isn't our fire, Thanks Goodness! Greg has started a collection of some of his fires.
I have included just a few here for your viewing pleasure. For my cousin, TA . . . yep, being a firefighter can be pretty cool sometimes. :)

**While viewing this slideshow, I could SMELL the fires. I know that has to be some kind of psychological something . . . right? When Greg comes home from a shift, I always know if he had a fire and what kind (woods or house). That smell is one that lingers for a while. It gets into his hair folicles of all places, and even though he really tries to shampoo it out, it stays. If he brings his gear into the house for any reason after a fire, we can hardly breathe. lol. I think only a firefighter's wife can appreciate that laundry headache.

Olivia's Slideshow

Here are the highlights of Olivia's life so far. You can see the photos on Picasa by clicking on the little yellow man icon in the bottom left corner and then clicking on "Olivia". You can turn the captions on and off by clicking on the call out box in the bottom left corner. Thanks for watching. :)

Our Dating Story

For those who are interested

Sparing some of our details, I will share the more interesting parts of our dating story. :)

As you read, we were set up on a blind date. May I say that Greg was the perfect gentleman. Things went very slowly at first - in fact, it was a comfortable slow. I remember talking with him by his car one night and I saw a shooting star! Now, I am not superstitious like that, but thought I would make a wish anyway. I wished that if things were "going to happen" that they would happen naturally. Well, they did - everything just seem to fit. Just a month after we started dating, Greg asked me to marry him . . . actually, what he said was, "Marry me." So, it really wasn't a question as much as a statement. lol I simply said, "No. I can't." I explained that I wanted to marry someone of my faith. A few weeks later he asked again. And, again I told him that I couldn't. I did like the poor guy, so I kept seeing him. **Note: I am not above giving Greg grief over his "romantic" proposal. **

In fact, I liked him so much I decided to have some fun with him. Now, my cousins (KJ, AJ, and VJ) taught us about short-sheeting a bed and making cute dance invitations and such - - thanks for the lessons! We had a New Year's Eve dance coming up at church and so I thought I would invite Greg (the non-dancer). I got permission from his mom and spread Hershey Kisses all over his bedroom floor (yes, he was living at home) and make a big card that said "Now that I have "kissed" the ground you walk upon, will you go to the dance with me?"

Well, that got rave reviews, so I decided to go a little further . . . with rice! Now, as a brief history: my mom had a friend who cleaned Greg's house. On occasion, she would ask my mom to help her. On one of their cleaning days, I gave my mom a bag of rice and asked her to empty it in Greg's bed. Keep in mind that all the parents were excited about their little love match - so my mom was eager to comply. I can almost hear her and K giggling as they carefully poured the rice across the foot of Greg's bed and then unassumingly made the bed up! To this day Greg grinds his teeth when he recalls his night . . . he had late ball games and came home exhausted. He crawls into bed just aching for sleep . . . only to find a whole bag of rice on his feet! I suppose Greg didn't quite know how to use the vacuum because he wakes his mom up to show her the mess and they both go to work vacuuming the good stuff up. I think it was a great idea and would do it again if I didn't have to clean it up myself. LOL

Okay, moving on . . . a few months after we meet, with Greg still talking about marriage, I ask him if he wanted to know why I was so set on marrying someone of my faith . . . he agreed to take lessons and it wasn't long before he wanted to be baptized and join the church. Wow - I can say that I didn't see that one coming! A month after that, it occurred to me that I really did want to marry him. He hadn't asked in a while, so I thought I should just take it upon myself to answer him on my own. I wrote the word "YES" on his car windshield with soap. Meanwhile, my mom kept him in the house talking while I worked. I finished my job, and told him that I was tired and he needed to go home. The smug guy thought he knew what was going on when I disappeared and my mom kept him talking. As we were walking out, he was expecting me to say something . . . don't' know what. We get to the door and I send him off . . . still no word. He walks to his car looking at the moon thinking he has misread the whole situation. It isn't until after he starts the car that he sees the soap writing. I think the guy just about cried when he jumped out and ran back to give me a hug. FINALLY, he had won his girl. lol

He later tells me that I have to now ask him to marry me! No problem there, I buy some flowers from our favorite florist and tape them to his shower head with a note that read, "Now that i have "showered" you with flowers, will you marry me?"

A few days later we get the ring (yup, I got to pick my own) and showed his mom. I can still hear her . . . "Are you engaged?!" Anyone who knows his mom can picture that excitement and the tears. It was great.

Now, Greg did fun things too - I think he deserves some credit.

He took me on a well-planned treasure hunt around town. He had gone ahead of time and taped clues all over town (behind stores, on the side of the road, etc) and drove me around to find them. At the very end were 2 dozen red roses! This all came about b/c I had been in a minor car accident (not my car and no injuries). I can only imagine what I would have gotten with a broken arm or something. ha ha.

He totally won my heart over food! Growing up, money was more than tight. If my mom bought a pack of gum at the store, we had to share the pieces by breaking them in half . . . even then it was a treat! If we ever ate out, we always ordered water (to this day I still order water with my food). Well, on one date to McDonald's, I couldn't decide between two sandwiches. I told Greg my dilemma and he told me that I should just get both! What?! This was a concept so foreign to me that I was totally excited to try it. Those who know me will have no trouble believing that I ate both sandwiches just fine. I decided then and there that Greg was a keeper. He also made a comic book of "our story" - drew the pictures, typed it up and everything.

Well, I think I have covered the highlights. If I am missing something, let me know.

Whew, so that was a long entry - thanks for reading!

Children's laughter is the best!

This is one of our favorite videos. I just re-found it and thought the grandparents especially would get a kick out of this.

As you can see, Josh is in the hall outside the bathroom door. Calvin is inside shouting at Josh. Who knows what he is saying. Josh is throwing a marble at the door while Calvin shouts. Calvin used to sit in the bathroom for the longest time while Josh played through the door. Now Josh is the one that stays in the bathroom singing . . . and singing . . . and singing. I will get him on video one of these days. :)

This one is MY favorite video clip! I will sometimes just watch and watch. I laugh just as hard each time I see it. Again, Calvin has just opened the door to the bathroom (you can see that he is still holding his shirt up). They had been screaming through the door, though Josh thought that his scream was a whistle. You can see Josh straining to get his last scream out before Calvin scares the mess out of the poor little guy! Oh, brotherly love. :)

This is a repost of our first blog post. For those who may be joining up for the first time (long-lost cousins :) - here we are....

History Lesson 1:

for beginners; those who don't already know the story

This family of ours all started 10 years ago (acutally 11, but as Greg and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary, we will start then).

Greg was 26 .... I was 19. My mom, his mom and a family friend thought we should meet. Admitedly, I was not impressed with him at first . . . he arrived for our date 15 minutes early. Anyone who knows my family knows that we were never on time for anything (Greg changed that attribute of mine in a hurry). Well, he really was the perfect one for me so we decided to get married. Ten short years and here we are!

Okay, moving on

History Lesson 2:

Two years after we were married, Calvin Luke was born. Shall I toot my own horn and let you all know that Calvin came into this world weighing 10 lbs, 5 oz. He was BIG. And so was I. I gained 41 pounds with that pregnancy (though to confess, I was a tad underweight to begin with - so I don't feel guilty about that weight gain at all).

Three years after that, Joshua Lynnel was born. Rivaling Calvin in weight, Josh weighed 10 lbs, 2 oz.

Five long years after that, Olivia Marie was born. This May, our petite little thing broke our line-backer tradition by weighing only 8 lbs, 11 oz. I gained 16 pounds with her, and lost it very quickly after she was born . . . but I think I might be putting some of it back on already! Yikes.

History Lesson 3:

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our ministry is a lay ministry, which means that our leaders do not get paid for their time. Our Sunday School teachers, pianists, organists, etc . . . all volunteer time. That being said, Greg is in the bishopric (leadership of our congregation), and will probably be there for another few years. That keeps him busy . . . which wouldn't be so bad, but Greg is also a firefighter and is gone quite a bit. THAT wouldn't be so bad, but he also has a second job (during the summer when he also cuts grass, he has three jobs). We see him on rare occassion. Being a single mom is interesting. More stories to follow.

I am involved with PTA (not as much as I was last year, but still involved), am room parent for both boy's classes at school, coordinate Visiting Teaching for church, teach Sunday School (though that will change soon, I think), am taking Spanish lessons, am learning how to make bracelets, and am far too behind on my scrapbooking to even think about it. I shuttle Calvin to Scouts, take Josh to soccer practice and to his games. Now that I am blogging, I have yet another project on my plate. What am I thinking? Needless to say, we stay busy. All by choice. :)

Now that you are up-to-speed on our life, we can begin with the fun stuff...